


Jack Tries To Become A Normal Member Of Society

by citizen101erased



Series: Quarantine Party! [2]
Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trapped
Genre: Blood, Comedy, M/M, Sex Mentions, Shenanigans, Swearing, annoying customers, found family trope, menial labour, quite possibly the single most self indulgent fic I've ever written, some (threats of) violence, unrealistic scenarios
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:28:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23640844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citizen101erased/pseuds/citizen101erased
Summary: After everything’s settled down and Jack has taken his time to relax and enjoy this newfound life with Zhao Zi, he decides it’s time to find a normal job. After all these years as a mercenary and working with the mafia and Interpol, how hard can it be, right?
Relationships: Jack | Fang Liang Dian/Zhao Li An | Zhao Zi
Series: Quarantine Party! [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667227
Comments: 25
Kudos: 240





	Jack Tries To Become A Normal Member Of Society

**Author's Note:**

> I know approximately nothing of Taiwanese culture & habits, I’m just a poor Westerner who _really_ loved Trapped so bear with me. Also I’m five weeks into isolation and really feeling the strain so there’s a good chance none of this makes any sense. 
> 
> This fic is unbetad.

“I found a job,” Jack announces one day over dinner. Zhao Zi looks up over his mabo tofu, chopsticks stopping for just long enough to ask “what, how?” before continuing to eat. 

“What do you mean, how?” Jack asks. This time, Zhao Zi actually puts his chopsticks down, which is usually a bad sign. 

“Well, it’s just. Do you even have any qualifications? Did you study anything? Where did you even apply?” 

Jack has to admit - to himself - those are good questions. He’s mostly always considered himself a good talker, and as someone who’s good at understanding people’s real intentions, no matter how hard they try to hide it. Combined with his fighting skills, and his general wits and confidence, he’s never really had a need for anything else. It’s not like there’s a school for mercenaries around, after all. Becoming one just kind of happens. 

Not that he’ll admit to any of this to Zhao Zi, mind. Nor will he admit he hasn’t actually applied to anything yet. He figured he’d just walk into a building, talk to some people, and come out with a job. Isn’t that how it usually works, anyway? How hard can it be, really. So when Jack says “I found a job”, that’s the same to him as “I’ve started looking for a job”. 

Zhao Zi is still looking at him expectantly, all big eyes and open expressions. He’s easy to read, always wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s one of the many things Jack loves about him. Jack’s spent so many years around secretive people with triple agendas, it’s nice to be around someone so open and honest. 

Zhao Zi’s also just really cute, which helps. 

“Don’t you trust my skills?” Jack decides to ask. 

“What skills?” 

“You know I have many skills,” Jack says, slowly running his eyes down Zhao Zi’s body. 

“You wouldn’t...you don’t...Jack, no!” Zhao Zi stutters, blushing, before quickly shoving more food into his mouth. Zhao Zi might have really enthusiastically taken to sex after the first two awkward times, but he’s still not used to _talking_ about it, somehow. 

“It’ll be fine,” Jack continues calmly, smiling at Zhao Zi. “How hard can it be?”

* * *

Turns out, it’s much harder than he thought. 

Apparently you need diplomas for just about anything nowadays. Or at the very least a resume that isn’t filled with crime. He really should’ve had Interpol forge something for him, it’s the least they could do after everything he’s done for them. Surely if they can get him out of the mafia, they could get him into a nice and easy (and well-paying) job? 

“I’m sorry, but you really need to at least give us a resume,” the lady behind the counter says with a fake smile on an otherwise emotionless face. She’s the seventh person he’s talked to today, and all of them had the same expression. It’s disconcerting, not being able to tell what someone thinks, and also not being able to charm his way in. This doesn’t usually happen to him. 

He puts on his best, most charming smile, and leans on the counter a bit. “Is there any other way I can prove to you how useful I could be?” 

The mask on her face drops and she’s actively glaring at him now. “You could get out before I call the cops, you creep.” 

Well, that did not go as expected. 

“Okay, thank you for your time, miss,” he says, raising his hands as he backs away slowly and makes his way out of the shop. 

Outside, his phone pings. 

_Shorty: how’s it going? Do you want to have lunch together?_

_Jack: I think I might just become a cop. It looks easier than this. Let’s have lunch._

“It’s not that easy to join the police, you know,” Zhao Zi says the moment he sees Jack. 

“You want to join the police?” Shaofei says loudly, looking at Jack incredulously. 

“What, like it’s hard? You managed just fine, after all. Also, why are you here again? I thought I was having lunch with my boyfriend.” 

Shaofei shrugs and puts an arm around Zhao Zi. “My own boyfriend is still in prison for another two weeks, so I thought I’d join my junior and see what you have been up to. It’s important to bond with coworkers, you know.” 

Jack pushes Shaofei’s arm off and replaces it with his own. 

“There’s a new Thai restaurant down the street, let’s try that?” He suggests to Zhao Zi, already pulling him along and away from Shaofei, who follows them anyway. 

Shaofei obviously keeps an eye on him the whole time. Jack really wishes he was more subtle about it, but instead he’s just full on staring at Jack the whole time as if he’s expecting Jack to do, well, _something_. Jack doesn’t know what. Could be crime (he’s working on it). Could be a love confession (never anywhere near Shaofei). Could be accidentally dropping some food down his shirt (never, no matter what Zhao Zi might claim). 

The crispy pork with basil is delicious, and Jack is making mental notes to himself to find out if planting some basil plants in Taiwan could work and where he can get his hands on some good ones, when Zhao Zi clears his throat pointedly. 

Jack looks up to find both Zhao Zi and Shaofei staring at him. 

“So,” Zhao Zi says. “How’s the job search going?” 

Jack smiles at him. “Just fine, don’t worry.” 

Judging by his knitted eyebrows, Zhao Zi’s worried anyway. They’re silent for a while, and Jack almost starts to think he got away with it. 

But then Zhao Zi, very softly, says: “you said you’d never lie to me.”

Well, fuck. 

Jack sighs, puts down his spoon, and looks directly into Zhao Zi’s big puppy eyes. “Okay. I don’t have a job yet, and it’s turning out to be harder than I thought to find one. I’ve been rejected from seven companies this morning. This doesn’t usually happen to me. It’s weird. But it’ll be fine. I have some connections I can probably still use.” 

“You mean criminal connections?” Shaofei butts in loudly. It’s a good thing Jack unlearned rolling his eyes years ago in favour of smiling at everyone. 

“I’m not telling you anything, Shaofei,” Jack says, smiling what he knows is his most shark-like grin at him, before reaching a hand out to cover Zhao Zi’s hand. 

“I promise you I will find a way and get a job, alright?” 

“Okay,” Zhao Zi beams at him.

* * *

The first job Jack manages to get is manual labour in a production line. It takes approximately fifteen minutes for the novelty of having a proper job to wear off, and another half an hour before the first and last time a manager shouts at him for not doing the work properly. Before the manager knows what’s happening, Jack is playing with his knife and staring down at the manager. 

Five minutes after that, Jack finds himself outside the building, flanked by security guards, and that’s that for his first legitimate job. 

Zhao Zi shrugs when he hears it, declares it “doesn’t suit you, anyway”, tells Jack to stop whipping out his knife whenever he feels like it, and then continues lazily making out with Jack on the couch.  
(Hongye doesn’t stop laughing for a solid ten minutes when he tells her the story over their weekly tea.) 

The next job, a week later, lasts a little bit longer. He somehow manages to get hired as a barista in some hipster coffee shop where they don’t care about his red hair or his tendency to quietly sneak up on people. And for some inexplicable reason they find his refusal to talk about his past mysterious and intriguing and “an interesting asset to the customers”, rather than suspicious and unnerving, which Jack supposes is good. 

He has fun there, and things go well for the first two weeks or so, to the surprise of everyone involved, including Jack himself. He’s picked up the workings of the coffee machine easily enough, and has already discovered a knack for beautiful latte art. (A skill he may or may not be using to gleefully draw dicks in Zhao Zi’s morning coffee.)

Tang Yi shows up a couple of times, now that he's out of prison and well on his way to having a fully legitimized business. Sometimes, he's joined by Shaofei or Hongye. It’s a good time, and Jack finds himself really enjoying this job despite the terrible pay and the occasional annoying customer. 

But then the Incident happens: a customer comes back with a complaint. 

This, in itself, is not that unusual, as anyone who has worked in any service job ever knows. Jack has already had to deal with a couple of complaints, and has even managed to not grab his knife for any of them. It helps that Zhao Zi has promised rewards for every time Jack manages to behave like a normal person. That boy really knows how to motivate Jack. 

“This coffee is wrong. I want my money back,” the man says. 

Jack smiles his best customer service smile at him. “I’m sure I made it exactly as you ordered it.” 

“No, you didn’t. It was wrong. I want my money back,” the man repeats in the same, flat tone as before that he probably thinks is threatening. 

Jack knows he’s not supposed to go into a debate, to either just give the money back or call the manager. But since the manager is a guy in his fifties who still prefers to play the guitar and smoke joints in the backroom over actually running his business, and Jack hates the idea of just giving this customer who is _wrong_ what he wants, so Jack decides to say no. 

Besides, he recognizes that specific glint in the eyes of petty criminals. He was one himself, when he was still young and naive, for a very ( _very_ ) short amount of time before climbing the ladder onto mercenary-dom. 

Jack knows people like this, the type of petty criminal who has grown too arrogant and reckless for his low standing. The type that is too dumb to stay out of prison for long. 

So he smiles his best threatening smile, straightens up, and starts playing with his knife, clacking it back and forth and back and forth until he sees the man swallow nervously. Good. 

“Now, did I or did I not make that coffee exactly as you asked?” Jack says softly. 

“Y-yes, but -” 

“And did you or did you not drink the whole cup?” Jack interrupts calmly, raising an eyebrow as he bares his teeth some more. 

“Yes, I did, but-” 

“So I take it you enjoyed your coffee, and I suggest you leave a good tip for your barista before you scramble out of here. Got it?” Just for emphasis, he slams the knife down on the counter. It works: the man flinches and starts reaching for his wallet, when Jack hears the voice of the storemanager behind him. 

“What on earth is going on here?” 

Dammit. 

That night, no matter how much he tries to explain, Zhao Zi refuses to even talk to him (though he doesn’t refuse the cake Jack baked him). All in all, Jack has definitely had better days. 

So he’s back on the job market. Hongye has already informed him a resume with a single, two-week long job on it, is worse than no resume at all. She also told him to maybe go buy something nice for Zhao Zi (“doesn’t he still like teddy bears or something?”) to make up with him. 

So Jack has planned a special dinner for tonight and is on his way back from the police station where he brought a grumpy Zhao Zi a lunchbox, when he passes a florist and figures he might as well get some flowers, too. Neither of them are really the type to do this usually, but Jack figures desperate times call for desperate measures. 

It’s surprisingly crowded inside. Jack doesn’t know how busy these shops usually are, but there’s a bit of a line in front of the counter and only one flustered girl cutting away at a bouquet while a middle-aged woman at the front of the line taps her feet and checks her watch impatiently. 

He has time now, so he decides to just calmly look around and wait for things to quiet down. He has no idea what kind of flowers Zhao Zi would like anyway, so probably best to wait. 

He’s close to the counter, looking at some fancy tulips with beautiful red stripes on white petals and frilled edges, when there’s a yelp followed by the sound of a bouquet falling to the floor. 

The girl behind the counter has cut herself, and is now sucking at the cut on her hand while staring mournfully at the crushed flowers. The woman starts shouting, something about ‘you useless girl’ and ‘I don’t have time for this’ and ‘I’m never coming back here, the service here is horrible’. 

Jack blatantly ignores her, and walks behind the counter towards the girl. 

“Are you okay?” he asks, taking her hand to look at the damage. It’s not too bad, it’s a shallow cut, but it does need some cleaning and dressing. She nods quietly, and he can see tears brimming in her eyes. 

“Why don’t you go rinse your hand and grab the first aid box, and I’ll deal with your customer here, alright?” 

“But, you don’t-” 

“It’s alright, I can handle this,” he says, using his most reassuring and gentle smile. She nods, still unsure. 

Jack picks up the bouquet from the floor, and studies it for a moment. If he replaces the ribbon and the bruised roses, it looks like it’s still good to go.

“I’m not buying that,” the woman says, unhelpfully. 

“That’s okay,” Jack replies. “Would you buy it if I replace the bruised flowers?” 

She scoffs at him. “You don’t look like you know what you’re doing.” 

He shrugs. “Well, since you’re in such a hurry, I’d say right now I’m the only option you’ve got. So it looks like you’ll either take my skills or leave without any flowers, and then what will your boss say?” He smiles as he sees her fidget uncomfortably. 

“Alright fine, but hurry up, and I expect a discount,” she says haughtily. 

“That I can do,” he bows, before grabbing his knife and going to work. 

A few minutes later, there’s a new bouquet and some money stuffed into a box he found under the counter. He doesn’t know how the register works or how much a bouquet like this is supposed to cost, but a soft _tick, tock, ma’am_ made sure he got some money shoved at him before she rushes out of the store. 

The girl comes back with the first aid kit in one hand and a wad of tissue paper balled up in the other. Her eyes are red-rimmed, but she seems to have gotten herself together enough for now. 

The other customers are understanding, thankfully, and willing to wait for a bit until Jack is done carefully cleaning and bandaging her hand. 

“You’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Jack says, smiling at her. She smiles back shyly. 

“Thank you. Did that lady end up buying anything?” 

“Yes. I just didn’t know how to open the register so I put the money in here for now. I hope it’s enough, I don’t know how much it was supposed to cost.” 

Judging by how her eyes grow bigger at the sight, it’s more than plenty. 

“This might be a weird question,” she says. “But since my hand still hurts, and you handled that customer well, would you be willing to stay for a bit and help out? I totally understand if you can’t, of course. It’s just that my only employee quit last week and I’ve just been here by myself since and it’s been a bit busy.” 

“Actually, I can! Let me just line my boyfriend to tell him I might be a bit late for dinner.”

* * *

“I found a job,” Jack announces that evening over dinner. 

Zhao Zi sighs, and puts down his chopsticks. “For real, this time?” 

“For real this time. I did promise you I wouldn’t lie, right?” 

“Alright then. What job, how did you get it, and when did you even apply for this?” 

All good questions, and Jack is more than happy to answer them this time. 

That evening, as they lie in bed in a post-sex haze, Zhao Zi looks up at Jack from where he’s lying with his head on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Jack. That was a really good thing you did today.” 

“Good sex?” he says, wagging his eyebrows and hugging Zhao Zi a bit tighter. 

“No! Well, that too, but I meant what you did for that girl today.” 

“Good like a normal person?” 

“Better.” 

Huh. That’s unexpected. He likes it.

* * *

Things go well after that. Jack stays at the florist, where Yi Ling is patiently teaching him everything he needs to know. Hongye has started dropping by regularly, quickly turning the shop into her company’s regular florist. 

Tang Yi sometimes fills in for his sister. Those are the days where Yi Ling is the happiest, both because of the amount of money Tang Yi manages to spend and because, apparently, she “just really loves getting to stare at his face”. Jack doesn’t really see the appeal. 

Jack has turned out to have a real knack for knowing what a customer actually needs, rather than what they think they need. Apparently being a good talker who somehow knows people’s real intentions comes in real handy in this job, and it doesn’t take long for word to spread of the florist who takes one look at you before telling you what you should actually do. He’s been told he’s saved some relationships. As long as the couples also hire them for their weddings, which they often do, that’s just a good bonus for him. 

But his favourite thing, he quickly learns, is when Zhao Zi comes to pick him up after they’re both done with work. Yi Ling and Zhao Zi get on well with each other, and Jack realizes he never knew how much he likes it when the people important to him also like each other. 

One day, Zhao Zi brings Yuqi with him after work, and together they watch as she and Yi Ling very awkwardly flirt. 

It’s strange, going from crime-riddled mercenary life, being only loyal to himself and throwing himself into dangerous situations for the thrill of it, to this quiet, domestic life with a legitimate and carefree job and a house and a steady relationship. It’s almost like something you’d read about in a sappy story, or see in one of those televised drama’s Zhao Zi and Shaofei seem to love so much. Yet here he is, making flower bouquets and cooking food for the people he loves. 

He might not know how long this will last, or if his past will ever catch up to him unexpectedly like it tends to do. 

But as he looks around the dinner table one evening, at Yuqi and Yi Ling quietly holding hands, at Zhao Zi and Shaofei inhaling as much food as they can and downing cokes after every spicy bite, and at Tang Yi’s knowing smile in his direction, he thinks _this is family, finally_.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like, please feel free to leave a comment! Or come say hi to me on Tumblr! You can reblog the fic on Tumblr [here](https://throwing-roses-into-the-abyss.tumblr.com/post/615332277404270592/jack-tries-to-become-a-normal-member-of-society).


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